"Ah!!!"
"Oh!!!"
"Huh ah!!!"
Gray and Natsu started off their morning in full work mode.
These guys keep their word, saying they'll do double the work, and they do double the work—it's not just anyone's double, it's their double.
Since they're teaming up with Lucy for work in the afternoon, they're planning to finish the afternoon's share too, so this morning they're doing quadruple the workload.
Erza has a heart that refuses to lose; with Natsu and Gray working hard, she won't fall behind as their forewoman.
"You guys, take care of your energy, okay? Don't end up with no strength when it's time to fight." Rhode didn't want any accidents to happen because he messed them up a bit.
Natsu and Gray responded in unison, "This level of work is a piece of cake!"
After shouting, they glanced at each other, competing to see who could move faster.
Erza said to Rhode, "Don't worry, if it's just physical labor, a meal at noon and resting on the road in the afternoon will be enough. If they can't recover, it means their training isn't sufficient, so it's just good practice for them."
However you look at it, she always has a point... Since Erza knows what she's doing, Rhode let it go.
"Hey~~ hey~~" Hapi tried hard to lift a log, but it wouldn't budge.
He looked at Rhode with teary eyes, "What to do? I can't lift it."
Even Hapi is serious about this, and Rhode patted his head, "You go help Lucy with checking and recording the work."
"Aye!"
The President's meeting with the Advisory Council yesterday seemed to yield results, as today's newspaper finally clearly reported the beginning and end of the battle between Fairy Tail and Ghost.
However, the reported reason for the battle was due to longstanding grudges between the two guilds, stating Ghost couldn't hold back and struck first, without mentioning Lucy's part.
Probably because it could harm the Hartfilia family's reputation, this part was omitted.
The news emphasized Ghost's provocation and Fairy Tail's victory over Ghost without the President's involvement.
Due to this event, among Fiore's top two guilds, there is now only one left, with Fairy Tail being crowned the strongest guild nationwide.
Perhaps because of this, the number of requests received this morning was significantly more than usual.
If he hadn't been involved in the whole incident, Rhode might have suspected if this was an internal guild conspiracy to eliminate rivals and boost business.
While organizing tasks, Rhode came across a tempting mission, but since he couldn't leave the guild for now, he recommended it to Elfman.
The little brother-in-law has worked hard these past days; he should go out and relax.
Rhode is already prepared for the responsibilities of being a brother-in-law.
After two hours of exhausting manual labor, Rhode paused momentarily to go to the counter for a drink of water.
"Thanks for your hard work." Mira poured him some warm water, added a little salt, and turned to get a towel.
After drinking, Rhode didn't grab the towel, instead leaning forward.
Mira smiled sweetly and helped wipe the sweat from his face.
It's not that he can't wipe it himself, but this way enhances the feeling of happiness.
"Look," Mira pointed towards Bisca.
The beauty with long green hair looked at them with envy, and upon noticing Rhode's gaze, she seemed a bit shy.
Rhode turned his head back and asked, "Has there been no progress between her and Alzack?"
Mira regrettably said, "So close to progress."
Rhode poured himself another glass of water, curiously asked, "What happened?"
He loves that curious expression! Mira brightened up, entering gossip mode: "I heard, Bisca bought flowers before."
"Bought flowers..." Rhode said in surprise, "Is she trying to learn from you?"
The girls in our guild are all so impressive?
Mira gave Rhode a light hit, having nothing to do with her… maybe a little.
She puckered her upper lip a bit, her lower lip sticking out, expressing dissatisfaction, "Listen properly to what I say!"
"Okay, go on."
"Seems like it's because of Erza, you know Bisca and Erza have a good relationship." Mira said mysteriously,
"She asked for Erza's advice and ended up being told she was useless or something, so that night she went to buy flowers, ready to confess the next day."
Rhode continued asking, "And then?"
'And then' are words that Mira finds hard to resist, speaking them like a spell can make her talk even more joyfully.
"Then... then..." Mira intentionally hung Rhode's curiosity briefly, finally showing a helpless expression, "Then the next day, the guild was attacked by Ghost."
"..." Rhode paused, "She decided to confess the day before the guild was attacked?"
"Yeah." Mira nodded sympathetically.
With what happened, thinking about confessing naturally became inappropriate.
Then followed battles with Ghost, inspections by the Advisory Council, while the flowers Bisca bought wilted long ago.
In one surge of momentum, then declining, finally exhausted, although Bisca hasn't reached the 'exhausted' stage, she temporarily lacks the courage.
Poor Alzack… no wait, fortunate but unworthy Alzack.
Rhode was frustrated, giving him opportunities he couldn't grasp.
Mira and Rhode didn't know that Bisca wanted to ask them, but both were absent at the time.
Moreover, the words Erza said were stated while she herself felt shy, forcing them out, additionally mentioning 'learn from Mira.'
Rhode curiously asked again, "How do you know about this? She probably wouldn't share it with someone."
Mira wouldn't disclose now, "Hmm-hmm, it's a girl's secret."
Actually, with so many people living in the dormitory, someone always knows a bit of inside info, and a loose mouth just happens to share it.
Experiencing 'I'll only tell you.' situations, it's really nothing unusual.
"Miss Mira, Mr. Rhode, all the materials delivered this morning have been accounted for." Lucy handed over a notebook.
"Aye! I helped too."
"Thank you, both of you." Mira took the notebook, poured juice for Lucy and Hapi, even added ice cubes.
"By the way, Lucy, there's something I need your help with." Rhode remembered something important.
"What is it?"
"During the fight earlier, Mira's hair got a bit singed, can you call Kyansa to help out?"
"Of course, no problem!" Lucy immediately went to grab her keys, "Open the door of Cancer, Kyansa!"
"Need a haircut? Shrimp~"
The Cancer Star Spirit entered, his catchphrase being 'shrimp.'
Lucy said, "I ask you, Kyansa, to help Miss Mira with her hair."
"I remember you, the lady who wants to learn magic from me shrimp~" Kyansa said, "Let me tell you again, oh, and your hair's lovely shrimp~"
"Thank you." Mira smiled as she sat down for Kyansa to handle her hair, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at Rhode.